as a social problem. The institution against the Negro in the south is widely regarded as an infringement upon these values, and hence as a social problem. The
institutional structure of the south, on the other, is based upon the denial of certain rights to the Negro, on the ground that without this discrimination the values of
white supremacy and “race purity” would be seriously endangered. Attitudes that sanction discrimination are early incorporated into personality of the white child,
and the practice of discrimination is regarded as at worst a necessary evil and at best a desirable way of life. The social practices of the North, it is true, are by no
means free of prejudice and discrimination. But such activities are viewed as social problem, unfortunate departures from a value system, and not as desirable
in themselves. Two sets of social values thus produce conflicts in the definition of the situation.
3. Social values may obstruct solution
. Social values may also obstruct the solutions of social problems, when the proposed solutions appear to infringe upon
other values. In a simple and well-organized society, the social values are by definition more consistent and homogeneous than in our own. Difficulties of
antithetical values therefore seldom arise among primitive peoples, as they do in complex and heterogeneous societies. In attempting to initiate programs of action
that will eliminate threats to one value, other values may be endangered, either actually or in the minds of many persons. The relative strength of the competing
values-or the relative power of the pressure group supporting them-may thus
Denny Thiorida. S. : The Social Problems In Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets
, 2009 USU Repository © 2008
determine which program of action is undertaken and which set of values is preserved.
There are many examples of social values acting as obstructions to social action. Illegitimacy is widely accepted as a social problem. Approximately
100,000 unmarried mothers give birth to illegitimate children every year in the United States. The plight of both mother and child is unfortunate, and society has
been traditionally vindictive toward the woman who transgressed the sexual mores and bore a child out of wedlock. Many programs for the amelioration of
this social problem, however, would threaten other values, and hence would receive short shrift from the public.
One possible solution would involve sex education in the secondary schools. Another would involve the legalized dissemination of contraceptive
information. Either of these programs, however, would encounter such immediate and widespread opposition that they are not seriously considered as possible
solutions to the problem of illegitimacy. The values presumably threatened by such programs are those related to the prevention of sexual relation outside of
marriage. Increased knowledge of sex or contraception is presumed to lead to greater sexual experimentation by young people. Hence in the value schemes of
many persons, the remedy would be worse than the problem.
2.3. The Social Problem and Literature
